Inverted base for stairs

ABSTRACT

A STAIRWAY HAVING AT LEAST ONE SIDE WALL WITH THE STEPS THEREOF EACH CONSTITUTED BY A VERTICAL RISER AND A HORIZONTAL TREAD SUPPORTED ON TRIANGULAR PROP BLOCKS SECURED ON PARALLEL INCLINED BOTTOM BOARDS IN TRANSVERSE OPPOSED RELATION. SHAPED TO FIT THE STEPS IN THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE STAIRWAY AND AT THE WALL SIDE THEREOF IS A SHEET METAL BASE SERVING AS A BASE-BOARD THAT IS ARCHED INWARDLY AND PROVIDED AT ITS TIP AND BOTTOM EDGES WITH OPPOSITELY DIRECTED TOOTHED FLANGES ADAPTED FOR PENETRATION INTO THE SIDE WALL AND BOTTOM BOARD RESPECTIVELY. A ROW OF SHAPED OPENINGS IS PROVIDED IN THE ARCHED PORTION OF THE INVERTED BASE TO ACCOMMODATE THE JUNCTURE CORNERS OF THE RISER AND TREAD. IN VERTICAL RELATION TO SELECTED TREADS THERE IS PROVIDED IN THE ARCHED PORTION AN OPENING FOR THE RECEPTION OF AN ELECTRIC LIGHT BULB SOCKET FOR ILLUMINATING THE STAIRS.

E. WILLFURT H INVERTED BASE FOR STAIRS Feb. 23, 1971 NVE/VTOE 52/6// //LLFUET/l United States Patent O 3,564,793 INVERTED BASE FOR STAIRS Erich Willfurth, 31 W. Chestnut St., Fa'mingdale, N.Y. 11735 Filed Aug. 11, 1969, Ser. No. 858,237 Int. Cl. E04f 11/00 U.S. Cl. 52-182 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A stairway having at least one side wall with the steps thereof each constituted by a vertical riser and a horizontal tread supported on triang'ular prop blocks secured on parallel inclined bottom boards in transverse opposed relation. Shaped to fit the steps in the entire length of the stairway and at the wall side thereof is a sheet metal base serving as a base-board that is arched inwardly and provided at its tip and bottom edges with oppositely directed toothed flanges adapted for penetration into the side wall and bottom board respectively. A row of shaped openings is provided in the arched portion of the inverted base to accommodate the juncture corners of the riser and tread. In vertical relation to selected treads there is provided in the arched portion an opening for the reception of an electric light bulb socket tor illumnating the stairs.

This invention relates to a metal and/or plastic inverted base serving as a base-board for use in a stairway and is a division of my co-pending application, Ser. No. 710,426, filed Feb. 12, 1968 for Inverted Base.

The primary object of this invention is to provide in building Construction in lieu of the present use of wood molding strips formin-g the conventional base-board assembled and attached to the base of the wall and to the stairs of a stairway and which projects outwardly from the surface of the wall, an inverted base of reentrant form that is placed within a space provided therefor at the base of the wall and adjacent to the steps so as to lie wholly inwardly of the wall surface, the wall accordingly having a dust-fall edge that is spaced vertically from the stair treads.

Another object of this invention is to so construct a stairway having either two opposite walls or one wall embodying inclined bottom boards mounting triangular props for supporting the risers and treads of the steps and which provides the above mentioned space to receive the re-entrant inverted base.

A further object of the invention is to for-m the reentrant inverted base of a thin, rigid but fiexible material provided along its longitudinal edges with oppositely directed flange or lip portions for attachment to the stair wall and bottom board of the stairs, the body portion of the inverted base being formed concave or inwardly arched uniformly for its entire extent.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide on each of the oppositely directed flanges a row of teeth adapted to be driven and to penetrate the side wall and bottom board for securing the inverted base inposition.

Another object of this invention is to provide the inverted base in the arched portion thereof with cut-outs shaped to accommodate the corner junction of a tread and riser for each step of the stair-way.

Still another object of this invention is to provide the inverted base in the arched portion thereof with a row of openings selectively positioned to accommodate ar electric light bulb socket receiving a light bulb to illuminate the steps of the stairs.

Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

P'atented Feb. 23, 1971 To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific Construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims.

FIG. l is an exploded perspectively view of a stairway shown partly in cross-section, and shown incorporating the present inverted base invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2, FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational View showing details of the stair-way Construction of stair tread and riser attachment to the bottom boards.

Referring in detail to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a stair-way 10 located between opposed walls 12 and 14 and extends from a floor 16 upwardly to a landing 18. Suitably secured to the floor and landing are a pair of parallel bottom boards 20, 21 which lie in the same plane and at an inclination proper for the pitch of a normal stair-way. Mounted on the upper surface of each of the bottom boards 20, 21 and adjacent to the outer edges thereof are pairs of prop blocks 24, 25, with each pair for each bottom board longitudinally spaced apart thereon at equal distances and Suitably secured in place as by nails. The prop blocks 24, 25 are triangular in form as seen in FIG. 1, with the lower prop block 24 having a horizontal edge 26 and the upper prop block 25 having a vertical edge 27, the edges 26, 27 engaging at their adjacent ends and presenting a right angle formation. At the lowermost end of each bottom board there is secured by nails a single prop block 28 which is similar to the upper prop blocks 25.

The steps of the stair-way consist of boards forming treads 30 and risers 32. Thus, the lowermost riser 30 is secured by nails to the vertical edges 27 of the lowermost prop blocks 28 and has its upper edge 33 in the same horizontal plane as the horizontal edges 26 of the lower prop block 24. The tread 32 seats on the horizontal edges 26 and on the upper edge 33 of the riser 30` with its forward edge extending slightly beyond the front surface of the riser and with its rear edge abutting the vertical edge 27 of the upper prop blocks 25. The riser 30 and treads 32 are Suitably secured by nails to the prop blocks which they engage and to each other. The succeeding steps of treads and risers are similarly positioned and secured to the prop blocks 24, 25 and to each other with the lower edges of the risers being seated on the upper surface of the treads at the rear edges thereof as clearly shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows the manner of securing by nails the prop blocks to the bottom boards and the treads and risers to the prop blocks and to each other. As seen in the FIG. 3, nails 34, 35 respectively secure the pair of prop blocks 24, 25 to the bottom board 21, 'and nails 37, 38 respectively secure the treads 32 and risers 30 to the prop blocks 24, 25. It is apparent that other modes of nailing may be utilized as found desirable.

'In the stair-way Construction as described above it is to be noted, see FIG. 2, that the steps (risers 30 and treads 32) are of a longitudinal length that is slightly greater than the distance between the walls 12 and 14, the lower edges 40 of the walls being inclined similarly to the bottom boards 20, 21 and closely adjacent to and overhanging the front edges of the treads. It is to be also noted that in the instant stair-way construction of bottom boards 20, 2'1 and props 24, 25, that the same are ernployed in this invention in lieu of the usual side boards of conventional stair-ways because in the present invention as will be hereinafter described an inverted base is used in the place formerly occupied by the side boards 3 that held the steps together as well as serving to replace the conventional base boards at the bottom of the walls.

The stairway walls 12, 14 may be made of plaster molded on a suitable supporting framework as they may be of any well known wall board Construction such as sheet rock, plaster board, plywood, etc. The walls if formed of wall board are re-inforced along the lower inside surfaces thereof by boards or beams 42, 43, see FIG. 2, the lowermost edges 44 thereof preferably being flush with the lower edges 40 of walls 12, 14.

At each side of the stairway the eXposed space between the steps and the lower inclined edges 40' of the walls 12, 14 is enclosed by an inverted base 50 which is formed of any suitable metal or plastic material of relatively thin thickness, the material being stiff and flexible and in strips or lengths found desirable for sale and handling. Preferably the inverted base 50 is formed of sheet metal shaped to provide an inwardly arched or concave body portion provided at its lower edge with an outwardly laterally extending lip or flange 54 provided with a row of penetrating teeth 56. The inverted base may be made of thin tin of semi-rigid grades, soft steel, stainless steel and of bronze with embossed patterns. Cheaper grades of inverted base can be painted in the color of the Walls or as desired. At its upper edge the concave body portion 52 is provided with a short vertically upstanding portion 56 having along its upper edge an inwardly laterally extending lip or flange 58 provided with a row of penetrating teeth 60. It is to be noted that the lips or flanges 54, 58 are parallel and extend in opposte directions and that the same are of like width and with the penetrating teeth thereon in the same vertical plane, as seen in FIGS. l and 2. The curvature of the concave or arched portion is such as to provide a distinct recess 62 inwardly and below the vertical body portion 56.

It will be noted that due to the inwardly arched shape of the body portion 52 that the square corner 66 of each tread must protrude into a cut-out opening 68 formed in the body portion 52 and shaped to accommodate the square corner 66. There will of course be a row of such cut-out corner tread openings 68 provided in the arched portion of the inverted base 50.

Each inverted base 50 is applied to the wall and stairs such that the teeth 60 on the upper lip or flange 58 will be driven into the wall board on its outer surface 12a, 14a while the teeth 56 on the lower lip or tflange 54 will be driven in the outer edge of each of the bottom boards, it being understood that the outer edge of the bottom board actually lies inside of the wall and will generally be in the plane of the inside surface of its corresponding wall board.

Provided also at selected points along the inverted base 50 in the arched portion thereof are circular openings 70 each so located as to be vertically spaced above the tread of a step in a triangular area formed by a riser and tread as clearly seen in FIG. 1. The openings 70 are designed to accommodate an electric light bulb socket (not shown) to take a light bulb so as to provide illuminaton for each step.

The inverted stiar base 50 both at its landing level 18 and at its floor level 16 is suitably joined to the horizontal inverted bases 72 and 74, respectively, which are shown and described in the above identified parent case of which this case is a division.

The inwardly directed recess 62 of the inverted base provides a dust-fall edge that is spaced from the surface of the stairs thereby obviating the collection of dust as normally occurs on a projecting conventional type base board. This Construction is not only suitable for homes, but is highly desirable in hospitals, nursing homes, etc., where a high degree of sanitary conditions is desirable.

Thus there has been provided an inverted base which besides producing an improved appearance along the base of a stairway wall, will also save time and labor when painting the walls of the satircase. Painting can be accom- 4 plished entirely with a paint roller and no brush will be necessary to paint into stair corners. Thus no cutting in with a small brush will be needed, in view of the recessed base along the steps of the staircase.

Additionally the covering of the floor by a protective tarpolin can be accomplished more quickly and more protectively due to the tarpolin edges extending into the recessed areas of the inverted base. Thus the floor covers do not merely lay on the surfaces of the steps near the walls, but are tucked below the lower ends thereof, thus eliminating all possibility of paint dripping upon the steps.

Additionally more frequent painting can be eliminated, in view that most stairway painted surfaces deteriorate soonest along the protruding conventional base-board. This structure being eliminated, such paint deterioration is no longer a problem.

While certain novel features of my invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. The combnation with a staircase and at least one upright wall, a re-entrant inverted base extending along a full length of the staircase comprising:

(a) a stairway comprising:

(1) a pair of inclined laterally spaced co-planar bottom boards,

(2) a row of steps supported on said bottom boards,

(3) said upright Wall having a lower edge inclined parallel to an adjacent bottom board,

(4) said upright 'wall being disposed inwardly of an adjacent end of said steps with its lower edge in vertically spaced relation to said steps,

(b) said inverted base constituting a base board between said upright wall and the steps of said stairway closing the space between the wall and steps, comprising:

(l) an upper vertical portion,

(2) an intermediate arched body portion,

(3) means on the upper vertical portion for securing the same to the lower portion of said upright wall, and

(4) means on the lower portion of the arched body for securing the same to said adjacent bottom board,

(c) the attachment of said inverted base being such that the intermediate arched portion thereof 'will lie inwardly from the outer surface of said upright wall.

2. The combnation of claim 1, wherein:

(a) said row of steps each consist of a horizontal tread and a vertical riser,

(b) a longitudinally spaced row of pairs of prop blocks on each bottom board,

(c) said pairs of prop blocks on said bottom boards being in opposed aligned relation,

(d) there being an upper prop block and a lower prop block for each pair,

(e) said prop blocks being triangular in form and rigidly secured to said bottom boards,

(f) the lower prop block having a horizontal edge for supporting a rear portion of a tread and to which the same is secured,

(g) the upper prop block having a vertical edge to which a riser is secured,

(h) the lower edge of said riser seating on a rear top edge portion of said tread, and

(i) the forward edge portion of said tread extending forwardly of a lower riser the upper edge of which supports said tread.

3. The combination of claim 2, wherein:

(a) said pair of props for each bottom board are longitudinally aligned with their outer faces flush with an outer edge portion of the bottom board supporting the same.

4. The combination of claim 3, wherein:

(a) the intermediate arched portion of the nverted base provides an inwardly directed recess directly below the lower end of the upper vertical portion to provide a dust-fall edge spaced from. the tread of the steps.

5. The combination of claim 4, wherein:

(a) the securing means on the upper vertical portion of the nverted base comprises:

(1) an upper horizontal lip projecting from the top edge of the vertical portion, and

(2) penetrating teeth provided along the free terminal edge of said upper horizontal lip, whereby said penetration teeth are adapted to be driven into the upstanding wall from the outer ings in the arched body portion of the nverted base each adapted to receive a projecting outer corner of a tread. 9. The combination of claim 8, wheren: (a) there being a longitudinal row of spaced openings in the arched body portion of the nverted base each arranged to overlay the tread of a step and adapted to receive a light socket for an electric light bulb to illuminate a step. 10. An nverted base for use as a base board molding 10 between the steps of a stairway and an upright wall comprising:

(a) an inwardly arched body portion,

(b) an upper vertical portion extending along the upper edge of the arched body portion,

(c) an upper horizontal lip formed with penetrating teeth extending from the upper edge of the vertical portion in the direction of the inwardly arched portion,

(d) a lower horizontal lip formed with penetrating wall surface thereof and with at least part of teeth extending from the lower edge of the arched the upper vertical portion engaging said outer portion and extending in a direction opposite to wall surface. that of the upper horizontal lip, 6. The combination of claim 5, wherein: (e) there being a longitudinal row of pre-shaped open- (a) the securing means at the lower portion of the ings in the arched body portion each to accommodate ar h d body ortion comprises: the corner of an adjacent tread of a step,

(1) a lower horizont l li projecting from th (f) there being a row of spaced openings in the arched lower edge of the arched body portion, and portion each arranged to overlay the tread of a step (2) penetratng t th provided along th f t and adapted to receive a socket for an electric light minal edge of said lower horizontal lip, bulb O illuminate said p, and whereby said penetration teeth of the lower lip are adapted said arched portion defifiing With TCaOH O the to be driven into the outer edge portion of the adjacent pp Vertical portion an inwardly directed I'CCCSS b tt b d immediately therebelow.

7. The combination of claim 6, wherein: (a) said upper and lower horizontal lips extend in References cited oppsite directions, and FOREIGN PATENTS (b) a s bstantial section of the arched body portion %2,113 1946 Great Britain 52 182 lying inwardly of the uprght wall. 8. The combination of claim 7, wherein: JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner (a) there being a longitudinal row of pre-shaped open- 40 

